Artofescape’s Weblog

I guess it’s film noir week. When I returned Out of the Past to the library I found Sam Fuller’s Pickup on South Street waiting on the shelf. I hadn’t heard of this film before, but had seen a couple of Fuller’s later ones, Shock Corridor and The Naked Kiss. I loved both, having slotted them, and Fuller, into the over-the-top (not a bad thing) B category. Pickup on South Street, however, is a class A film noir. It’s unusual and fascinating to see the 1950s from a grittier angle in this film where “The Reds” take the part of the ultimate evil, leaving everybody else–cops, federal agents, petty criminals and stoolpigeons–on equal footing. The protagonists, a washed-up pickpocket and a girl who’s really been around, are damn sexy too. I’ll be looking out for more Sam Fuller movies in the future.